Vesperia 2: Twisted Fates
by Kazane Hime
Summary: After the Adephagos was defeated, things seemed to settle down around the Vesperia party. However, a dark burried secret may bring tragedy onto them. What they don't know is how what they did effected what would have happened to this secret. Yuselle, Flyita, KarolXNan, RavenXJudith
1. Disolved

**A/N: Thanks for reading my new story. This is based postgame and I've attempted to put alot of... mystery in. Be careful what you believe, it may blind you from the truth. (Mwahahah :3)**

_This world can never be without conflict. No matter what may happen, the conflict inside people shall always exist. Perhaps, someday, the species of this land will uncover the secret techniques that we so carefully hid. When that happens, I can only hope that the ancient guardians will once again bury them away. That is, unless there are those even stronger than those large monsters that will save the world. This is all I can do now, hope. No more will I write, as it is my duty as priestess of the moon to go along with all the others that know of the techniques and guard them until the end. Farewell, my good friend Sora M. –Karen S.H.  
P.S. –Farewell my dear son, my only regret is that I never really got to know you and never will. Farewell…_

Drops of liquid made new stains on the paper, joining the older water stains. A hand released the letter to wipe away tears and push a stray piece of light pink hair out of her face. The girl had found this tattered letter in the last pages of a novel she had been reading.

A gloved hand rested on her shoulder in silent questioning and comfort. Estelle turned around to see the dark swordsman that had come in through the window of her room once again.

"I must look horrible..." the words flowed out with a slight teary giggle. Yuri shook his head and removed his hand from the princess' shoulder.

"Not at all," Yuri said, his usual teasing smile had faded. It was quite a shock to see the pink-haired princess crying as he climbed soundlessly through the window. "I hope they don't start blaming me for you crying." He added, the smile twinkling in his eyes once again. Then he looked at what Estelle was holding, a tear-stained, crumpled letter. "What's that?"

"Oh, this?" Estelle asked, forgetting that she was holding the letter. The pink-haired girl folded it up as she spoke before putting it back in its envelope. "It's a letter I found in a book I was reading. It was really sad. A mother leaving her son to protect some technique until she died."

"Sounds interesting but I'll pass." Yuri said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Anyways, would it be too much to ask for a bit of your time, princess?" He added with a mock bow, a grin pulling at the corners of his mouth.

"Of course not!" Estelle giggled. "What do you need?"

"Just a walk." Yuri said, grinning. "However, we probably should go out the window."

"Huh? Why?"

"Scared?"

"No, I was curious" Estelle pouted.

"The knights would be confused if I just came out of your room suddenly," Yuri explained with a sigh.

"Couldn't you just explain it to Flynn?"

"He isn't in Zaphias," Yuri said, taking Estelle's hand. "Not to mention, it's faster and more fun this way."

"O-okay," Estelle said before following Yuri out the window. Part way down she slipped, partially because of her dress, partially because she had never done this before. Anyways, she fell, only to be caught by the dark-clad man.

"I thought I told you we were climbing down, not jumping." Yuri said, smirking as he set her down on the ground.

"Not like I wanted to fall!" Estelle said though she couldn't help but giggle.

"Well, then. Let's get to that walk" Yuri said, extending his gloved hand to Estelle, who quickly took it.

The two walked through the middle quarter towards the long path down to the lower quarter. Ever since the Adephagos had been destroyed, a lot of work had gone into helping people in the lower quarter (thanks to Estelle and Flynn) but some people still looked down upon the people that inhabited the lowest reaches of the capital.

Even as she was, Estelle could see the truth in the beginning words of the letter she found. There was always conflict within people, but she would do all she could to lessen that conflict.

She glanced over at Yuri, who had been silent since they left the nobles' quarter. When they had talked before the final battle, they had understood each other's feelings. Did he want to walk just because, or was there a reason behind it? After traveling around she had returned to Zaphias to take care of some things but it hadn't been that long since she talked with him alone... had it?

"Things are really getting better her," Estelle stated, attempting to start a conversation. She had her hands pressed together slightly to calm her nerves.

"Yeah," Yuri nodded. "Even though its slow, things have started being fixed up."

"That's good," Estelle smiled. "Why did you come to the castle?"

"Just wanted to say 'Hi' since I was in the area."

"Oh. How is everyone?" Estelle asked, looking slightly depressed.

"They're good. Actually they sould be somewhere around Zaphias. Karol had something he had to attend to. Probably another job for Brave Vesperia."

"I'm glad you guys came through. At the castle they're still trying to decide how to declare an Emperor or Empress without Dein Nomos."

"So you don't need to stay here until they figure it out."

"Guess so. It is hard to get used to staying in one place after travelling all around the world. I'd like to continue our journey but it'll have to wait until after the succession is decided."

As they conversed, the middle quarter passed by then the long path to the lower quarter followed it. Now, they were by the almost dry fountain. Water systems had been made to fix the problem of the need of the precious liquid. However, the lower quarter still only had one water source that got only a small portion of the water from the systems. Whenever the water dried up, mages were sent to summon water with their new mana-using spells wherever it was needed most.

Back in her room, the princess sighed. All she had talked about with Yuri was usual gossip and catching up, nothing interesting. She had thought that they would be together at the end of their journey... no, she still believed that. Their journey wasn't over yet, she had to believe that.

For some reason, the letter had passed through her mind quite often through the rest of the day after she came back into the castle. Something about it made her feel like she was missing something important. Just what were the sealed techniques it had talked about and what made them so important that people had to die while protecting them? She pressed the thoughts to the back of her mind as she gazed out of her window at the starry sky, easily picking out the brightest star in the night sky. Hoping that the guild named after that very star would be safe, she fell asleep.

"...Okay, once again our job is to retrieve some materials from Baction." Karol finished the briefing, finally used to being the leader of a guild. "Brave Vesperia, Fall out!"

The group boarded the Fiertia while Judith informed Ba'ul on where they were going. Yuri sat in the cabin of the ship, leaning against the wall with Repede lying at his feet, Karol made sure everything was done correctly, and Raven, well, was being Raven and sitting down doing nothing.

Once by the shrine of Baction, they started to set up camp, since the trip had taken most of the day and it would be better to set out in the morning. The set up didn't take long for the experienced travelers and they were soon sleeping in their tents. Only Yuri remained awake, gazing up at the clear night sky. Why was he so on edge while usually being described as laid back? He shook his head. All calming down required usually was taking a walk, so he set out, alone, into the night to scout out the course they would take tomorrow.

The next morning, Karol woke up in his tent, yawning. He got up and walked outside, looking around for the usual face of the man who was like his older brother. No matter where he looked, he couldn't find him. Even Repede was curled up by a tree on the edge of the clearing alone. Quietly, the guild leader looked through the tents (other than Judith's, of course, having made that mistake one too many times before) yet, the dark haired swordsman was nowhere to be found.

"Yuri!" Karol called out, not keeping his voice down, since the others should be getting up soon or already awake. "YURI!" No response. A cold object was nudged against his leg and he looked down to see Repede, who pointed with his nose towards the shrine. "Thanks, Repede." Karol said, heading out towards Baction until he tripped over some object on the path.

"Ow..." he said, rubbing his ankle. The spiky haired kid looked back to see what he had tripped on and what he say made his eyes widen. There, behind him, lay the blue sheath of "The Last Fencer", Yuri's strongest sword. Yuri himself was nowhere to be found, and seeing how he always, _always_ picked up his sheath after a battle he wasn't anywhere close.

Karol came the conclusion he had wanted to avoid; Yuri Lowell was missing.

**A/N: Thanks again for reading my story. Please Review and if you have any questions, do not be afraid to PM me with them.**


	2. First Rumbles

**Ellos :3 I'm back with the promised chapters :3 Hopefully I didn't make you wait too long for this since I kinda wrote myself into a corner before and didn't know how to fix it. Please Read, Enjoy, and Review :3**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Tales of Vesperia or any of the characters from it though I would love to so I could make Flynn X Rita official :3**

* * *

_One year ago_

"Did you find it?" The whispered call seemed to echo unnaturally through the air as it bounced along the narrow hallway-like structure. A small man shivered and nodded in response to his superior's question before handing over a small object to him. The taller man looked the small object over in the minimal amount of light they had brought with them before tucking it into his pocket. Jumping as if he had been yelled at, the subordinate rushed forward and grabbed the torch before leading the way back the way the two of them had come.

Torchlight flickered over the men, glistening off of two black lines down from the eyes of the taller one, and illuminating their skin while their clothes remained in darkness of their surroundings.

* * *

_Now_

The hardest part of returning was breaking the news to the princess.

Since he had been the first to discover that Yuri had gone missing, Karol explained what had happened; from the point they all went to sleep to when he found Yuri's sheathe and the search that had taken place afterwards. Even if he had grown up a bit in the last years, the guild leader was still only a boy and his voice shook as he admitted that the person he admired was missing.

As she took in the information, Estelle's face paled with shock. Not a week before, Yuri had climbed through her window and took her on a walk through the city. That was… just after she had finished reading the strange letter she found in a book... As her mind went over what had happened, she had an urge to look over the letter again, that somehow, it was linked to Yuri's disappearance, but she pushed the thought to the back of her mind again.

When Karol finished explaining, the princess looked up from where she had been staring at her feet, a determined look in her eyes.

"We need to continue looking!" She exclaimed, looking from face to face. Each one looked away in turn, reluctantly admitting that they had searched the entire area and found no sign of Yuri. "What did you find when you searched the area?"

"There was evidence that a fight had taken place," Flynn offered.

"Why are we just staying here then? We need to look more!" Estelle said, balling her hands into fists.

"Calm down Estelle," Rita spoke up, stepping forward. "Everyone's tired and how would you get out of the palace in the first place? You need to think things through before you act."

"But…"

"Rita's right," Judith said. "We'll go back and start looking again tomorrow after we rest up but you need to stay here."

"Oh," Estelle said, blushing as she realized how tired everyone looked. "I'm still going! I can't just sit here and wait while you're all out looking for him…"

"Ya know," Raven started. "He might show up here like he did last time. Ya should stay to keep an eye out."

Flynn nodded in agreement. "I have things to take care of but I'll check if I can find anything whenever I have free time."

Estelle opened her mouth to argue but closed it and nodded as the truth of the words sank in. When Yuri had fallen from Zaude, she had been the first one to find him in the lower quarter.

"Okay," she said, looking down. "I'll stay."

"We could leave Repede with you if you want, he seems to like you a lot better than me," Karol said, motioning to the blue and white dog.

Estelle shook her head. "No, he needs to go with you since he can help track down Yuri's scent. I'll be fine."

This time, it was Rita that looked like she wanted to argue with Estelle's point but she stopped when Flynn put a hand on her shoulder.

"Okay," the blond knight said, looking at the gathered people. "Everyone should get some rest now."

Taking their cue to leave, Brave Vesperia turned towards the door and headed out while Rita looked back for reassurance before leaving.

"I'll be taking my leave now too, Lady Estellise," Flynn said and bowed before walking out the door, leaving the princess alone to her thoughts. Slowly, Estelle removed herself from the spot she had been standing in the entire time and opened the door to the hallway, feeling she had to go somewhere even though she had no concrete idea as to where. With a sigh, she went to her room and let herself collapse on the bed once she closed the door, worry enveloping her.

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**Sorry it's kinda short… okay,**_** really**_** short compared to how I would like it to be. I could've made it longer but I also promised to make 2 chapters so I'll leave my ideas for the next chapter. Also, my writing style has changed since I posted the last chapter so sorry if it sounds weird in comparison. Anywho, Please Review, Review, Review :3**

**-Kazane Hime**


	3. Black-streaked day

**Just for reference, I'm thinking that this story is going to be set 2 years after the end of the game so that there was time for the characters to grow up and time for people to start adjusting to life without Blastia.**

**Anywho, I'm sorry I didn't post this right after the other chapter like I thought I would since I found a few errors and it took me a bit to go and rewrite a few pieces. With that, please Read, Enjoy, and Review :3**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Tales of Vesperia or the characters from the game/movie :3**

* * *

Dark; that word described this place perfectly. Everything was dark, from the clothes that the people wore to the atmosphere to, of course, the surroundings. There was barely any light from the flickering torches and whatever light there was only illuminated sections of the dark stone walls. Any way to keep track of the day was kept far away from him, the so called "Child of the New Moon". Or whatever these people seemed to think he was. Yeah, he knew all about the Child of the Full Moon but had never heard of such a thing as Child of the **_New_** Moon.

Someone here was amazingly strong since they had been able to knock him out with only a few blows and it must have been a few days before he had regained consciousness. Being unable to convince him that he was this being that was the opposite of the Child of the Full Moon, the people with black marks had stopped coming as often as they had before, as if they were occupied with something else.

* * *

It was 10 days before Estelle heard from the party again. Flynn had left Sodia in charge of the knights and left to go help with the search 6 days ago. It had been 10 days of a new routine. Day after day, she would go down to the Lower Quarter with 2 knights as an escort to check Yuri's room and search the streets he had grown up on. Day after day, the room looked the same and the streets held no sign of the black-haired swordsman. Finally, word arrived from the party, explaining that they hadn't found any concrete evidence but Repede had discovered a trail and they were currently following it South away from Baction shrine.

Estelle read the letter as she sat in the library, the place that had become a sort of "safe-haven" to her over the 18 years she had been stuck within the castle. White paper lay on light brown wood as the princess set the letter on the desk in front of where she was sitting. This was the desk she had sat at when a knight had informed her of the danger Flynn was in and started the entire adventure 2 years ago. She leaned back in her chair, staring at the wooden ceiling at the point that it met the stone walls of the castle. It still looked the same, this view. It hadn't changed at all over all the years she had been here.

An explosion shook the castle, erasing any thoughts of thinking about the past. She jumped up from her chair, almost knocking it down, and rushed to the window, searching for the source of the explosion. Many knights streamed out of the castle, heading towards the middle quarter while others that had been spread out throughout the town joined them along the way.

Something was happening and she wasn't about to be sitting around when she should be helping with the healing and maybe the fighting if necessary. Determined, Estelle ran to the door and out into the hall, leaving the letter where she had put it earlier. Knights that usually were patrolling the halls of the castle were gone though a few remained to guard the important areas. Almost to her destination, she tripped on the edge of her dress and tumbled forward, face-planting on the smooth marble surface of the hall.

_'Did she really want to go rushing out like this?'_ The thought popped into her mind as she unknowingly studied the patterns of light the flickering torches made on the ground. A second later, she was on her feet again, the thought almost forgotten. The princess pushed open the door to her room and slipped inside before looking through her drawers for a better outfit for fighting. A purple and white cloth caught her eye and she pulled it out of the drawer, revealing the top for her "Magical Maiden" outfit. Setting it aside, the princess looked through the other drawers until she found the other parts of the outfit. After getting dressed, she closed the drawers, promising she'd clean up the mess she had made later, and grabbed the armor and weapons Yuri had insisted she kept in her room (in case he came along and they had to go somewhere without having time to go to the armory).

Being careful not to trip or slid on the slick floor, Estelle ran down the hall again, heading to the main entrance. A few knights tried to stop her from leaving but she slipped past them and out into the noble's quarter. Once she reached the top of the stairs leading down to the middle quarter, she stopped to catch her breath. Usually she'd have Yuri alongside her for any kind of an escapade ever since the first one but this time, she was alone as she looked down towards the gate. There, at the gate, was the gathering of knights and the mark of an explosion.

The princess started down the steps at a walk, still trying to catch her breath from the run. She held her rod and shield at ready, unable to see what it was that had caused the explosion. A few people to the side of the gathering of knights looked injured and all thoughts of catching her breath disappeared as she ran down to them, automatically starting to cast a mana-using healing spell.

"Thank you," the lady that she was healing told her, giving her a smile. Estelle nodded, focusing on the spell until she finished.

"You'll be fine," she reassured the woman. "Just take it easy for a bit."

The woman agreed and the princess stood back up, looking at the knights. Someone, she never remembered who, said something about a "person in black". Curious, she pushed herself into the crowd of confused knights to see what it was that they were talking about. In the middle of the half-circle of knights, was a person with a black hooded long coat, a black mask that covered their entire face, and decorated black pants. She pushed to the front of the crowd to see the figure better just before a small black ball formed for a split second and the person took it in their hand and slammed it into the ground. A wave of black was all she saw before blacking out.

* * *

**Yes, a cliffy. Well, as close as I can get to a cliffy right now since I'm tired... Anywho, I hope you had fun reading it and please, Review, Review, Review :3 If you have any suggestions or questions, feel free to put them in a message or a review. I don't bite. :3 Also, if anyone is willing to look over my Tales of fanfic chapters before I post them, please message me. My friend that used to do it for me isn't easy to contract now so I'd love if anyone would be willing to help :3**

**-Kazane Hime**


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